The San Jose Sharks might have played their best hockey of the season on their recently completely homestand, but that meant nothing on Thursday as their struggles on the road remain nowhere close to being resolved.
The Sharks allowed two goals in a lopsided second period and never fully recovered in a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden, as San Jose’s record away from home dropped to an unsightly 0-10-0.
After an even first period, the Sharks allowed even-strength goals to Bruins forwards Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk to fall behind 2-0. San Jose was unable to mount any type of comeback as it was shut out for the fourth time this season, all on the road.
Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves, including 16 in the second period when the Sharks were beset by turnovers. Goalie Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves for the Bruins (15-4-3).
“We got loose in the second period. The turnovers hurt us and ignited their game,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “I thought (the Bruins) brought to another level once that period got going and we weren’t able to control it.”
Highlighting the Sharks’ offensive frustrations was their inability to score during a 5-on-3 power play that started near the end of the second period. Once the third period began and with 1:35 of man-advantage time to play with, the Sharks (5-16-2), down 2-0 at that point, turned the puck over twice and were unable to get a shot on Swayman.
The Sharks were 0-for-5 on the power play for the game and now own a 0-11-2 record against the Bruins since the start of the 2016-17 season. Their last win against Boston came on March 15, 2016.
“We were giving it to them on the 5-on-3 and that just can’t happen,” Quinn said. “You’ve got a full minute and a half, and a chance to get one in, and all of a sudden it’s 2-1 and it’s a hockey game.
“You could feel the whole bench kind of get deflated a little bit.”
San Jose has now been outscored 42-6 in 10 games away from home.
With its season-long six-game road trip just getting underway, the Sharks might be in danger of eclipsing the franchise record for most road losses to start a season, held by the 1991-1992 team, which lost its first 13 games away from the Cow Palace.
The Sharks next face New Jersey on Friday, followed by games against the New York Rangers and New York Islanders on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively. The Sharks finish the trip with games against Detroit on Dec. 7 and Vegas on Dec. 10.
Tomas Hertl, who revealed after Thursday’s game that had to have a surgical procedure on Monday to remove a kidney stone, surprisingly came out for pregame warmups and was later inserted into the Sharks’ lineup. Hertl missed Monday’s game with the Washington Capitals, did not practice on Tuesday or take part in Thursday’s morning skate.
“It was a pretty (crappy) situation,” Hertl said. “It was pretty painful, but I felt good for tonight, so I jumped in.”
His turnover in the Sharks’ zone led to Boston’s first goal, though, as his attempted clear was batted down by Matthew Poitras, who got the puck over to Heinen for a shot that beat Blackwood.
The Bruins’ second goal came after they entered the San Jose zone. Defenseman Calen Addison drifted over too far to his left, allowing DeBrusk to get to the net after he took a pass from Pavel Zacha.
Zacha scored a power-play goal at the 6:37 mark of the third period to round out the scoring.
Blackwood started his second straight game after he stopped 33 of 34 shots in the Sharks’ 2-1 win over Washington on Monday, as San Jose wrapped up a three-game homestand with a 2-0-1 record.
In his last eight games before Thursday, Blackwood had a 3-3-1 record with an impressive .924 save percentage. Among those eight appearances, though, were road losses to Anaheim, Vancouver, and Seattle, as the Sharks fell to 0-9-0 away from home this season.
Source: www.mercurynews.com